King Abdullah Ii Asks Turkey Not To

King Abdullah II Asks Turkey not to Send Troops

King Abdullah II of Jordan called on countries neighboring Iraq not to send troops. (-al-Zaman) The plea was clearly directed at Turkey, the only neighbor now planning to do so. Abdullah II is echoing what the US-appointed Interim Governing Council itself has said, but since he is also a neighbor, his position seems less self-interested. Since the US military desperately needs a few divisions to relieve US troops and reserves in Iraq, and since from Washington’s point of view Abdullah II and the Interim Governing Council are nobodies, I am guessing that the Turks are coming. Ankara said Monday it wanted its troops deployed in Sunni West Baghdad and other central, Sunni Arab areas. This statement was aimed at mollifying the Kurds, who do not want Turkish troops anywhere on Kurdish territory. The foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference also criticized Turkey for wanting to send troops to Iraq, and called on the US to withdraw its own troops. Washington views the OIC as nobodies, so I am guessing that the Turks are coming. But, there may be more trouble over it than Washington thinks there will be. Sometimes nobodies are more perceptive than one gives them credit for. For instance, in 2002 King Abdullah II tried to tell the Bush administration that if they overthrew Saddam it might plunge the region into instability . . .